Alcohol abuse is a chronic and relapsing condition, which means that you can fall back on destructive habits even after being sober for years. The most serious challenges to long-term sobriety are triggers. Overcoming alcohol relapse triggers requires that you first identify what they are and then take steps to manage them better. Learn more about relapse triggers and how to help yourself.
Common Triggers: Identifying Your Problem Areas
Triggers are cues that put you in a mental and emotional place of distress. They usually build over time and cause severe emotional reactions that could increase the risk of relapse. Triggers can be locations, people, smells, and even activities that jumpstart your cravings.
Stress is one of the most common alcohol triggers. Often, people rely on alcohol to relax because it’s a central nervous system depressant that prompts feelings of well-being and calm.¹ If you experience stress, that can trigger the need to drink.
Other common triggers can be people and places that remind you of drinking. If you had a group of friends with whom you went to bars, seeing them can cause distress. Even some family members can be triggering if you’re used to having a drink with them during celebrations.
Experiencing negative or overwhelming emotions can be dangerous as well. Losing a loved one, getting bad news at work, or breaking up with your partner could all be triggers that make staying sober much harder. Ultimately, your triggers will be unique to your own life. You can identify them by paying attention to what causes distress and cravings.
Managing Triggers
When you first get sober, avoiding triggers will be an essential goal. However, as time passes, that may no longer be an option. You can’t sidestep stress forever, and you may encounter people who remind you of your drinking days without meaning to. That is when your coping skills will come into play.
As you got treatment for alcohol misuse, you likely learned techniques to better manage powerful emotions. Mindfulness exercises like deep breathing and meditation can be helpful when facing triggers, as can other strategies you learned to use during cognitive-behavioral therapy sessions.
One vital tool at your disposal is your relapse prevention plan, which clearly outlines the steps you should take if you feel like you’re about to relapse. Most treatment programs offer sessions geared toward helping you prepare for the triggering situations you could experience once you leave official care.
With a relapse prevention plan in place, you’ll have contact information for those who can offer immediate assistance, such as therapists, sponsors, or family members. You’ll also have suggestions of things you can do to distract yourself, including going for a run, taking a shower, or other similar options.
It’s also important to continue to receive treatment for addiction. Regularly seeing a therapist is an excellent option, but consider participating in 12-step programs that connect you to your recovery process. If you find that you continue to struggle with triggers, aftercare services as part of a treatment program can be helpful as well.
In instances when your home environment may be triggering, sober living facilities could help prevent relapses. They’re run by people in recovery who seek to ensure everyone living there actively works to maintain their sobriety.
Overcoming Alcohol Relapse Triggers With Help From Silver Sands Recovery
Living with an alcohol use disorder doesn’t mean having to avoid everything that triggers you. Even if that were possible, it would limit your life significantly. Instead, you can learn to manage your response to those triggers, thereby allowing yourself the freedom to live normally while maintaining your sobriety.
At Silver Sands Recovery, we offer a variety of programs to help you address your unique challenges. From providing detox referrals to ensuring that you have the extended care services you need, we can guide you through the entire process of getting sober. Contact us to see what options best suit your needs.
Sources:
[1] https://medlineplus.gov/alcohol.html
About the author:
Lisa Waknin is the Founder and Director of Silver Sands Recovery, located in Prescott, Arizona. Lisa started Silver Sands Recovery after immersing herself in the addiction treatment world for several years to figure out what could be done differently to help her daughter and others like her to overcome addiction and stay sober. She believes in a hands-on treatment approach, which includes taking someone out of their environment, providing a 90-day program in a structured environment. During treatment, clients not only recover physically but also learn to live their life again. Lisa is a sought-after expert speaker for recovery support groups, charities, schools, communities, and companies wanting to educate themselves on the explosion of opiate and heroin abuse in our country and the best way to understand, treat, and beat it.
